Stormy Nights
by Dancingqueen4Life
Summary: A short one-shot about a stormy night at Avenger's Tower. Part of my 'Merry Christmas Darling' and 'Happy Birthday Dear' universe. Rating is for language.


**So this popped itself into my head, and wouldn't leave me alone. It's part of my "Happy Birthday Dear" and "Merry Christmas Darling" universe. Enjoy!**

* * *

Natasha Romanoff was pissed off.

She was lying awake in bed at some ungodly hour, listening to the storm raging outside.

Now, normally, she loved storms. She loved the crack of thunder and the flash of lightning. But normally, her husband was in bed next to her, not flying a jet home from a mission.

So she was pissed. Because she was worried.

_Fuck that, I'm the Black Widow. I do _not_ get worried._

Except that she was.

Natasha sighed and closed her eyes, trying to push her worries to the back of her mind in the hopes of getting just a little sleep.

Moments later, her bedroom door flew open, right as another crack of thunder exploded.

Natasha sat upright and looked at her door, hand gripping the gun under her pillow.  
"Мама?"  
Natasha sighed. "Hi, Liya."  
Before her daughter could speak again, more thunder hit, causing the 7 year-old to come running across the room and throw herself into her mother's arms.

Natasha pulled her daughter closer, pressing her nose into the bright red curls.

"Is the thunder scaring you, Sweetie?"  
"Yeah." Liya whispered.  
"But you know it's Thor."  
"Nu-uh. He promised he would never do thunder while we were sleeping."

_Oh. Shit, Clint. Get your ass home._

"Where's Ally?"  
"She's not scared. I checked, and she was sleeping."  
Before she could speak, more thunder hit, and a noise at the door caused Natasha to look up, finding 7 year-old Ally standing in the doorway.

"Look." She whispered to Liya.  
Liya peeked her head up and saw her twin at the door. "Hi."

Without a word, Ally ran into the room and jumped onto the bed. Natasha shifted Liya to her other side so she could wrap an arm around both of her daughters.

"Where's папа?"  
"He's on his way home."  
"No! He can't fly here. It's too dangerous!"  
"He'll be ok, Ally. He knows how to fly."  
"Promise?"  
"Yeah."

The girls quieted down slightly, curling into their mother. Another crack of thunder caused Ally to shriek and Liya to burry her face in Natasha's shoulder.

"Alright, sit up, both of you."  
The girls complied, looking at their mother.

"We're clearly not going to get any sleep, so we're going to play a game."  
"What game, Мама?"  
Instead of answering directly, Natasha turned to Liya, and said, "name one weak point where someone can get in the Tower."  
Liya thought for a moment, before answering. "The 4th floor window. East side."  
Natasha nodded, and turned to Ally. "Who's job is it to cover that area?"  
Ally thought for a bit, "Uncle Steve."  
Natasha nodded. "Ally, what's another weak point?"  
"Umm… parking garage, lowest level. There's an entrance into the vents."  
"Why is it weak?"  
"There's a camera, but the vent entrance is it's blind spot for 5 seconds."  
"Right. Liya, who checks that area?"  
"Uncle Tony."  
"And?"  
"Dummy, but Dummy doesn't really do anything."  
"Right."  
They continued this game, going back and forth naming weak points in the tower, occasionally telling why they're weak, and saying who's job it is to make sure that they're secure during an attack.

It was a weird way to calm down two 7 year-olds, but Aliya and Alexis Barton were just like their parents. They felt better when they were given facts, and it was always training time, whether it was physical or mental.

Natasha lost track of time, and before she knew it, both her daughters were asleep, curled into her for warmth and safety. As quietly as she could, she wiggled down the bed so she was completely under the covers with them, and put her arms around both of them, hugging them tightly. Before long, she was asleep as well.

* * *

At 10 am, Clint Barton walked back into their floor of the Avenger's Tower. It was quiet which was unusual for their floor at this time of day. He carefully made his way to the bedroom, pushing worst-case scenarios to the back of his mind. He opened the door quietly, and a smile crossed his face.

Natasha was sandwiched between their twin daughters. They all had their bright red hair fanned out around them, and they were all asleep.

Liya had her head resting slightly on Natasha's shoulder, her left arm across her mother's stomach. Ally had her head on Natasha's shoulder as well, her right arm lying on top of Liya's; their fingers looked as tough they had been entwined at some point.

Natasha was lying flat on the bed, head on the pillow, with both of her arms around the girls' shoulders, holding them to her.

Clint was about to close the door when a whisper caught his attention.

"Hey."  
"Hey." He whispered back. He made his way over to the bed, helping Natasha rearrange their daughters so that she could get up. He picked up Ally and held her close, making sure not to wake her up, while Natasha climbed out of bed. Clint set his daughter back down so that she was facing her twin. He then began arranging the pillows and extra blankets around them, making them a nest to finish sleeping in.

When he was done, Natasha had finished in the bathroom, and they made their way to the living room.

"Why are they in our bed?"  
"There was a storm last night, and they were worried. Neither one could sleep, so we went over security."  
Clint nodded, as though it made perfect sense, which to him, it did.

They sat together for a while, before deciding it was time to wake the girls up. They made their way back to their bedroom, and found both girls still soundly asleep.

"Do we really have to wake them up?" Clint whispered.  
"Yes." Natasha whispered back.  
"But they're so cute like that."  
"I know."  
"You don't want to wake them up, do you?"  
"Not really."

Clint chuckled, and pulled Natasha to the bed with him. They went to their respective side of the bed, and climbed in behind their daughters, moving the pillows as needed.

When they finally got situated, it didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep.

* * *

**I know it ends kind of funny, but I hope you guys liked it!  
Reviews are wonderful. You should write one. :)**


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